Libertas Eastern Candidates

Tuesday, 21 April 2009

The end of Tom Wise's gravy train?

On Monday 20th April Tom Wise, an MEP for the East of England, was formally charged by Bedfordshire police over gross abuse of European Parliamentary Expenses. He was arrested in June last year after it was revealed that he allegedly claimed almost £40,000 of public money by claiming it was for a researcher’s salary.

Wise will appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court next Monday on charges that carry a maximum term of 14 years. He first came to public attention over the article in the News of World (read it here http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/news/article4815.ece) detailing his lavish Brussels lifestyle and a singular lack of concern for any of his constituents in East Anglia.

Robin Matthews, Libertas Party in the UK leader says:

"If you thought Jacqui Smith's blue movies allowance was bad, just look at what our MEP's in Brussels are getting away with. While British families are struggling, MEPs are receiving big pay rises and gold-plated pensions. We simply cannot allow this kind of abuse of expenses to go on.”

“The fraudulent behavior, when it comes to expenses, from some of these MEPs in Brussels is becoming more and more frequent. It is conveniently shielded from public view - the MEP's have just voted to keep their expenses secret and this is why Libertas wants to put transparency slap bang in the middle of the EU. A pan-European campaign for real accountability and real reform in Brussels is the only way this can happen”

The charges against Mr Wise, an MEP for the East of England, come just under a month before European elections for which an EU-wide survey has forecast a record low turnout. They follow a series of claims about the misuse of the generous expenses on offer in Brussels, including the Conservative Chief Whip Den Dover being required to pay back £445,000 in “unaccountable expenditure”."